Dalton ADA Committee Explores Expanding
DALTON, Mass. — The Americans with Disabilities Act will soon be a full committee.
The five-seat committee currently has four active members but received comments of interest from two residents.
The committee voted to appoint John Curro to the committee. The appointment will be added to a future Select Board agenda, ADA coordinator Alyssa Maschino said.
Curro had already completed the committee interest form, while the resident who expressed interest had yet to do so by the time of the meeting.
Curro has dealt with accessible buildings and walkways while working for Pittsfield housing for 36 years. During his time he has searched walkways for trip hazards and other bad conditions. He aims to make things safe for everyone, he said in his interest form.
Once the board approves the appointment, the committee will select a chair and vice chair.
Although the members voted in favor of recommending Curro, they noted that the other resident who expressed an interest is welcome to attend meetings to provide insight during discussions. He just won’t be a voting member. He also successfully completed the two-day Massachusetts Office of Disability Training.
Committee member Patrick Pettit recommended that they consider expanding number of seats to seven rather than five so there are still enough members in case a couple decide to leave or are absent.
To do that, Maschino has to research how the ADA Committee was formed. It is unclear how long the committee has been around but it is "old," she said.
"I need to actually physically go through all of the town reports that I have to see what year it started. Then I can go to the town clerk's office, and she should have something from a town meeting saying how it was formed," she said.
Depending on how it was formed, increasing the number of members will have to be approved at a town meeting or by the Select Board, Maschino said.
The committee started to meet regularly again last year with its current members but had existed before that.
Committee member Rachel Branch offered to aid Maschino in her research.
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